The Tales of Ba Sing Se (and Other Places)
by mandiekro
Summary: A series of one-shots about everyone in the Avatarverse. Will be updated as I come up with ideas. Yes, I fully comprehend that this is a horrible summary, but hopefully my one-shots will be satisfactory to all who read them.
1. Dreams

AN: Yes I know I have a lot of other stories going on but I have become obsessed with Avatar lately and I got this idea from this other fic that I was reading so yeah. This resulted. And in case you hadn't noticed, I do not own any of the fantastic cartoon shows I write about, this included.

* * *

Dreams

"Katara?" Aang asked his girlfriend. They were sitting on a couch in the Fire Nation Palace, where the group had been staying until they could procure a more permanent lodging in Republic City, the newly renamed Yu Dao. Except Zuko, who would, of course, be staying in the Fire Nation.

"Yeah Aang?" She asked, glancing up from the letter she'd been writing to Master Paku. "Have you... um... ever... had a boyfriend besides me?" Aang asked, stumbling through the first part of his question and speed-speaking the last. Katara laughed. "Why? Did you have an air bending girlfriend?" She asked playfully. "No! We weren't even allowed to date until we turned fifteen!" Aang laughed.

"But seriously, did you?" He asked after a short while. "No. There were no boys my age in the Southern Tribe. But I did dream about having one," she told him. "He would show up on a tall white horse and offer to take me away from it all." She said wistfully.

"Really?" Aang asked, a bit uncomfortably. "Yes. In fact, I sometimes still have those dreams." She told him. "Really?" He asked, sounding very upset now. She nodded. Then, seeing how upset he was, she pulled him closer and whispered in his ear, "The only difference is, now my handsome prince always has an arrow on his head."

* * *

AN: I have decided to turn this into a series of Avatar one-shots just because I have ten billion ideas dancing around in my head.


	2. The Letter

AN: Hi there. So, part of this addresses the fact that NOT ONE PERSON NOTICED THAT THIS KID NAMED LEE HAD THE SAME SCAR AND FRIENDLY UNCLE AS WANTED CRIMINAL ZUKO.

* * *

The Letter

The morning Firelord Zuko's past caught up to him, he woke up to Mai staring at him with a look that could kill. She was sitting in a chair next to his bed, and apparently had been there simply so that when he woke up she could slap him across the face with a scroll that was addressed to someone named Lee.

"Explain this." Mai said simply. He took the letter from her and after a moment recognized the script from a signature on a bill at Pao's Tea Palace. "Jin," he muttered under his breath. "What was that?" Mai asked him.

"It's from a girl I knew when I was posing as a villager in Ba Sing Se." He told his evidently pissed off girlfriend. "Was this a girl you were interested in?" She asked. "You read the letter didn't you?" He asked. "Perhaps." She replied. She definitely read it.

He sighed, opened the scroll, and began to read;

'Dear Lee (or should I say Firelord Zuko),

Hello. It's been awhile since you were that awkward kid who pretended to know how to juggle, huh? I hope you're doing alright, Lee. (And that you don't mind if I call you Lee.) I heard about the attempts on your life. I was a bit worried.

I had my suspicions about who you were from the moment I first saw you at Pao's Tea Palace. (I go to the Jasmine Dragon a lot now and talk with your uncle. He is an extremely talented Pai Sho player.) I tried to tell myself that anyone could've had a scar like that from fighting the Fire Nation.

But with your flimsy backstory (you were a horrible juggler. Sorry) and especially when you lit the lanterns at the Firelight Fountain, I knew that you had to be Zuko. I pretended not to know, because I was _not_ about to turn you and Iroh in to the Fire Nation.

Now that you're Firelord, you probably wouldn't have time to visit me in Ba Sing Se. If you ever come to visit your Uncle, though, you might see me. He's been teaching me the ways of the tea leaf, and I'm going to work at the Jasmine Dragon this summer when I'm off from school.

And, if you were wondering, I've found a very nice boyfriend. He said that he knows you. His name Teo. He said that he knows you. He and his father moved here after shortly after the conflict in Yu Dao. (By the way, I was in support of the people of Yu Dao in that whole conflict. In case you were wondering.)

I hope you and Mai are very happy. Have fun with the whole Firelord thing. I'll always call you Lee.

~Jin'

Zuko smiled. It was a very sweet gesture of Jin to write to him, and if Mai hadn't been sitting there giving him a death glare, he would've grabbed a quill and some parchment and written a reply.

But Mai was sitting there. "Well?" She asked him. "Um, how about some breakfast?" He asked, smiling weakly. This would not end well.


	3. Thoughts

Thoughts

Mai sighed in relief as Ty Lee's chatter was cut off by sleep. The slightly younger girl had been talking and talking and talking and talking since Azula had had them imprisoned in one of the deepest, most highly-guarded cells in the Boiling Rock. Mai was already sweating feverishly from the heat.

She lay down on the hard, rocky ground of their cell to try and follow the chi-blocker's example. They didn't even have the same moth-eaten mattresses the other prisoners had, though she had no doubt her uncle would find some way to make them more comfortable.

Mai couldn't sleep, however, not because she missed her comfortable bed back in the Fire Nation. No, she was fine with sleeping on the earthen floor. But thoughts of two certain firebending siblings kept poking at her mind.

She could've lied. Could've told Azula that she wanted to save her uncle. That would've been believable. Azula wouldn't have understood, of course, since she despised her own uncle with all of her being, but Mai and Ty Lee probably wouldn't have been in this mess if she had.

But Mai had known long ago that Azula wasn't really her friend. She hadn't been sure Ty Lee was either, to be honest, until she had chi-blocked Azula to save Mai, and in the process given up her chance at freedom.

Even so, Mai had a lot to thank Azula for. Without Azula, Mai probably would've grown up bored, her life uneventful. She never would've met Ty Lee. Or Zuko.

_Zuko_

Even after he had betrayed her, locked her up in that cell with the guard, she couldn't stop worrying about him. Why couldn't she get him out of her mind? His handsome face, marred by that scar, but he still had that fire in his eyes. The one she had thought she had seen go out forever.

Mai remembered the day that Zuko got burnt. She had gone to see him in the palace infirmary. Iroh had been there. But no one else. Not Azula, or even his father. He had told her that he had disgraced himself, and to regain his honor, his father said that he must capture the Avatar. She had blurted out that it was impossible. He had thought so too. And his eyes. Or, the eye that she saw that day.

When they were younger, Zuko's eyes had danced and twinkled with light. They had been so beautiful, almost glowing with the fire that only a firebender's eyes held. She had seen it in Azula's eyes, but Zuko's fire was so much warmer, more inviting. But that day, in the infirmary, with one eye closed off from the world, the fire behind his eyes had finally burnt out.

When she had found his letter, many things had shot through her mind faster than one of her knives. The first had been _no_. The last was _heartbreaker_. But still, she saved him. Why?

She wondered if she would've made the same choices had it not been Zuko. She wondered if she would've left her uncle, that Kyoshi girl and the Water Tribe boy burn if Zuko hadn't been there.

She thought of the look that had been exchanged between them before Zuko had ran off to go find his companions. She had seen that fire behind his eyes again. The Avatar and his friends had helped to rekindle it. She hoped that she had played a part as well.

Zuko would never be her knight in shining armour, she decided. He would never be her fairy-tale prince. But Mai didn't want a big strong man to come and save her from danger. And Zuko knew it. Zuko understood her. Zuko wasn't perfect. But he was enough.

And with that answer to her question of why, she finally made it to sleep on the rocky ground. At least, until Ty Lee started to talk in her sleep.


	4. Something Wrong

Something Wrong

Was this really all he would be? He wondered as he stood before an adoring nation. "Your Prince... Zuko!" Lo and Lee yelled out to the entire Fire Nation. Was he just a pawn in Azula's plans? Was he just the Fire Prince, destined to rule over this genocidal nation?

He tossed some bread to the turtle ducks. Why did he feel this way? Why do I still feel like I'm not good for anything?' He stared at the baby turtle ducks with their mother, and thought of his own. 'Where are you mother? Please, help guide me.'

Nothing happened. Nothing had ever happened when he asked his mother for guidance. But before he had always had his uncle to turn to. And now he had betrayed him. The man who had truly been a father to him. Who probably hated him now.

And then Azula came. So he put these treacherous thoughts out of his mind. Even though he knew that Azula couldn't have knowledge of these thoughts, it felt dangerous just thinking about Iroh. But when he was by himself, his uncle was all he could think of. So he went to visit him.

When his uncle didn't speak to him, he knew that Iroh hated him. How could he not? He had betrayed him, everything he had wanted for so long. He deserved his uncle's hatred.

Mai made it better. She actually cared for him, not like how the Fire Nation, or Azula pretended to. How his own father pretended to. Azula, of course, came and ruined everything. She had heard about his visit with Iroh. Why had he even visited the old man? Why did he even care if Azula knew?

She voiced it herself. Because these visits jeopardized this position he held. The position that he wasn't even sure he wanted at all.

He visited him again, but Iroh paid him no mind. The guard said that Iroh had become a stupid, disgusting pig. It had hurt to say that he didn't doubt it. He still wondered, though, how Iroh, Dragon of the West, member of the Order of the White Lotus, wise Dragon Tamer, his esteemed uncle, had become this lowly old man.

He finally decided to get a hitman. The Avatar was still alive. He knew that that Katara girl had healed him with her magic spirit water. Now, he had finally gotten rid of the final obstacle in his path to this perfect life, the life he had always wanted. But then, why did he still have this horrible feeling in his gut, like everything was wrong?


	5. A Royal Artifact

A Royal Artifact

Zuko smiled at his daughter. It was her twelfth birthday, the day she officially inherited the title of Crown Princess. She was about to go and be crowned by the Fire Sages. She looked very nervous.

He bent down in front of her. "I have a surprise for you." He said. "What is it daddy?" She asked him, momentarily forgetting her nerves. "Here." He pulled the item out of the inside pocket of his tunic. It was wrapped in a red cloth. He handed it to his daughter, her eyes shining in excitement.

She unwrapped the object. "This is an ancient Fire Nation artifact. It's supposed to be worn by the Crown Prince, but I think the Princess will be allowed too." He told her.

"Did you wear this daddy?" She asked as he helped her put the artifact in her hair. "Nope. The last person to wear this was Avatar Roku." He told her. "Really?" She asked excitedly. He nodded. "That's so cool!" She cried.

Then from outside came the call of, "Your Crown Princess!" and the twelve year old went to greet her Nation, not a trace of her nerves lingering. "You really work wonders, your firiness." Mai said. He smiled at her. "I'm just looking out for our baby girl.'


	6. Similarites

Similarities

"Please Mai. Just talk to her." Zuko begged his girlfriend as he walked with her towards Toph's temporary room in the Fire Nation Palace. "Why? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not really the 'make you feel better' kind of girl." Mai said, a bit annoyed at Zuko's pestering.

"Mai, you don't understand. You are exactly the person she needs to talk to." Zuko said. "How would you know, Oh Mighty All-Knowing Firelord?" Mai asked sarcastically.

"Well, when I was with the Avatar, I kinda went on these trips with all of them that changed something. Except Toph. Then, two days before the comet, Aang disappeared. We all went looking for him, and Toph insisted that she come with me because, as she put it 'everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko.' She started telling me about her childhood, and it kind of reminded me of yours." Zuko told Mai.

"How so?" Mai asked, interested now. She had never met anyone with a past like hers. "Well, her parents were some of the richest people in the world. They gave her anything she wanted. But they barely paid her any attention. They just dismissed her as the weak, helpless blind girl they thought she was."

"Except for the part about being blind, I see your point so far. Go on." Mai said. "She wasn't happy. She started to run away frequently. Her parents just brought more security." Mai nodded. She had tried running from home once. It had gone about as well as Toph's attempts had.

"She met some badger moles after running once, and began to learn earth bending. When it became clear she couldn't leave for good, she started leaving in the night and going to these caves, where the badger moles taught her earth bending." Zuko said. "Like how we snuck off to the circus with Ty Lee." Mai said, fondly remembering the looks of annoyance Azula gave her and her best friend when they talked about the circus and the Fire Princess had no idea what was going on.

"Exactly." When they were younger, Mai, Zuko, and Ty Lee had sometimes gone to the circus at night when everyone thought they were asleep in their beds. They had adored it, and had gone whenever it was in town. Zuko had wanted to be just like the fire breathers, Ty Lee had been awed by the acrobats, and Mai had longed to be a knife-thrower. The circus had, in essence, helped shape their destinies.

"See? I was right. Please talk to her." Zuko begged. "Fine." Mai said. "Thank you." He said, giving her a quick kiss before knocking on Toph's door.

"Who is it?" Toph yelled. "It's Zuko and Mai. If you're still interested in that life-changing field trip, we're about to leave." Zuko told the door. Said door flew open. "So where are we going?" Toph asked excitedly. "I'm letting Mai take the reins on this one." Zuko replied. "Where to, milady?" A ghost of a smile flickered across Mai's face. "The circus."


	7. Powerless

Powerless

Bumi sighed as he stared out the window of his guest room in the Fire Nation Palace. His father and mother were outside training Kya and Tenzin, and appeared to have forgotten to give him something to do. Again.

Although they didn't show it, the 13-year-old was a disappointment to his mother, a master waterbender, and his father, the freaking Avatar! How could he have been a non-bender? Why did he have to be so incredibly, ultimately...

"Powerless?" A female voice asked him. He jumped and snatched up the dagger that had been laying next to him on the floor. It was a girl he had never seen before, dressed in Fire Nation clothes and wearing a loose bun on top of her head in a lazy version of the customary tradition. He assumed it was a servant and sat back down, but kept his dagger in hand just in case.

"What are you doing in here?" Bumi asked her. "That's a very nice dagger. Where did you get it?" The girl asked him in return, ignoring his question. "Oh, my Uncle Sokka gave it to me for my birthday. He got his friend Toph Beifong to- Don't change the subject!" He yelled when he noticed the trap he had been sucked into.

"So, you're the non-bender? Bumi, the child of the Avatar who is powerless?" She asked him. "Shut up." He muttered, putting down his dagger and hugging his knees to his chest. "That's okay. My father is a prominent firebender, but I don't have any powers either." She told him, her light, airy tone fading a bit.

"Really?" He asked. Maybe he had disowned her and that was why she was a servant sitting in a strange boy's room. He had heard stories like that before. "Yeah. I guess we just live in a bit of a sucky society." She sighs. "Yeah." Bui murmured.

They sat like that for awhile, both gazing out the window as Avatar Aang and Master Katara taught their children bending in the same loving way other parents might teach their children to walk, or speak.

When the four benders finally went back inside, the strange servant girl had somehow ended up with her head resting comfortably on Bumi's shoulder and Bumi had an arm wrapped around her waist. They quickly noticed this and jumped away from each other.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Me too." Bumi said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I should probably go. My father will be waiting for me." She said, pointing to the door. "Wait!" Bumi called. "Um, what's your name?" "You already know me, stupid." She said, giggling softly. And then he recognized her.

Without the prim and proper hairstyle, pinned up by the priceless artifact he had heard so much about, and without the makeup she wore, Honora, daughter to Firelord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai looked like a completely different person. "You recognize me?" She asked daintily. He nodded. She smiled at him.

He tucked his dagger back into its sheath on his belt. "I'm not powerless." He muttered. "And neither are you. Just because we're not benders doesn't mean we're powerless." He told her, not looking up from the intricately embroidered sheath. When he did, she was gone.

* * *

AN: I really ship Bumi with the most-likely-non-existent Honora.


	8. Boomerang

Boomerang

"The power of the boomerang is strong in this one." Sokka proclaimed in a mockingly thoughtful tone, though whom he was mocking was unclear to the twelve-year-old boy by his side. "Um, cool?" Bumi replied askingly. "Yes, very." His uncle told him.

"With mine and Toph's help, Bumi, you will be crafting your own boomerang and carrying on the long history of boomerang-wielding Southern Tribe warriors." Sokka told his nephew. "I thought you were the only boomerang-wielding Southern Tribe warrior." Bumi said.

"Exactly! We're starting a legacy here, Bumi. It's all very important. Do you accept the honor of becoming the very second boomerang-wielding Southern Tribe warrior?" Sokka asked. "Sure. Uh, I mean, yes sir!" Bumi said, smiling at his favorite uncle.

* * *

Commander Bumi's forces were crouched behind some bushes, waiting for the attack signal from their leader. These were some of the most dangerous criminals to ever attack this part of the United Republic, and Bumi was a bit nervous, though he didn't let it show.

He grabbed the boomerang that had been balanced in its sheath on his back. 'I am a boomerang-wielding Southern Tribe warrior, and I don't back down from a fight.' He told himself sternly.

He signaled the troops to attack.


	9. Parental Guidance

Parental Guidance

Toph smiled as her students each punched a hole through a thin sheet of metal. "Good work, lily livers" Then she noticed a pale green palanquin decorated with a flying boar just outside of the small school. "Take a breather guys and girl. I've got some visitors to deal with." The sixteen-year-old told her students, and then stalked outside.

"What do you two want?" Toph snarled as her parents were helped out of the palanquin by their palanquin-bearers. "We've just come to talk, sweetheart." Her mother said, placing a hand on her daughter's arm. "_Don't_ call me that. I sent you letter after letter, and only now you show up?" Toph demanded.

"Toph, we want you to abandon this ridiculous school and-" "Stop right there. You haven't learned a thing, have you?" She interrupted her father, shaking her head. "What are you talking about? The Avatar kidnapped you, turned you into this violent girl. We've come to take you home." He said, confused.

"No, dad. Even after all of this, you still don't understand. Aang didn't turn me into this girl. This is who I am. Who I always was. And you were the ones trying to turn me into something I'm not." Toph said. "I'm not the helpless blind girl you want. Now get out of my school."

"Yeah!" A male voice yelled. "You can't take our Sifu Toph away!" Someone else called out. Toph turned to see her students. There were now ten of them instead of three, though those first three still hadn't mastered metalbending yet.

"Toph, who are these hoodlums?" Her father asked. "These 'hoodlums' are my students. And, as they have stated, I'm not leaving." Toph said firmly. "You're right. You're not our daughter. I officially disown you, and banish you from the Beifong home. Good day." He said, and climbed into his palanquin. Her mother, however, didn't move.

"Poppy. Come along. We are leaving this place. This horrid school that has shamed the Beifong name." He said, getting out of the palanquin and taking his wife's hand. "No," She replied, tearing her hand from his grasp, "You cannot treat my daughter this way. I thought that I could help you. That you could become the man you once were. But disowning your own daughter over who she is... you have become a monster, Lao. And I will not take this from you anymore."

The metalbenders then held out their hands and the metal palanquin folded itself up into a box. "Leave our school." Penga said firmly. "You don't want doom, do you?" Ho Tun asked, grinning faintly and pounding his fist into his palm. "We hate you." The Dark One stated bluntly.

"Thank you, lily livers." Toph told her students, smiling at them. Her mother wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders. This time she didn't pull away. "Now get back to practice, Team Beifong. Ho Tun's in charge. The two of us have some catching up to do."


	10. Home

AN: So this one is a Zuko-centric song fic. I'm not 100% sure this is how song fics are done but whatever! It's to the song Home by American Authors and when I heard it it just struck me as so Zuko. So it takes place in the time between when Zuko gets his scar and the episode where Aang finds out that he's the Blue Spirit.

* * *

Home

I've got these letters tattooed on my arm

That remind me each second of where I come from

And the long hard road to get me back home

Zuko stared at his arm. It was the day after the Agni Kai. He was sitting in a Fire Nation ship with his uncle. He remembered the pain of his father's flames. He felt the heavy bandage over his eye. But he didn't care. He held up his right index finger and a tiny red flame ignited right above it. Then he held the flame over the inside of his left arm and burnt his flesh. He bit his lip to keep from crying out and alerting his uncle. Soon enough the date was burnt into his flesh. Three little numbers that represented all of his shame. They would remind him to keep on going. That he could and would get back to the Fire Nation.

Back to my mama who raised me up right

And back to my lady who I held every night

It's a long hard road trying to get home

At first they searched the Air Temples. Then they went to the Earth Kingdom. But one day Iroh recommended that they search some small Fire Nation villages. His uncle claimed that it was because the Avatar might be attempting to hide in plain sight. But Zuko knew that his uncle was just giving him an excuse to look for his mother. And he was grateful.

One day the traveling duo heard about Mai's father getting a promotion and being made ruler of a small Earth Kingdom village the Fire Nation had just recently conquered. They were heading in the opposite direction of that town, but Iroh still asked Zuko if he wanted to go see his old friend. "I don't want Mai to see me like this." Zuko said dejectedly. "Come now Prince Zuko. If Mai is really your friend, she will not care how you look, or about your honor. I know you want to go." Zuko sighed. "Alright. Let's go." He said finally, and turned the ostrich-horse around.

I'd been gone now for too long

About a year after they had begun their search, Zuko saw a poster of the Fire Lord and the Fire Princess in one of the Earth Kingdom villages. He couldn't stop staring. He tore it down and brought it back to the ship. "Look at it, Uncle. They're so different from how I remember them." He said to his uncle at dinner. "A lot can change in a year, Prince Zuko. I'm sure that your other friends look very different now too." Iroh told his nephew. "What other friends?" He mumbled under his breath, in a voice he thought his uncle wouldn't hear. "Mai is your friend." His uncle said. "I'm sure she looks different too." "Mai?" Zuko whispered. "That's it. I've been gone far too long."

[Chorus]:

I'm not trying to stop a hurricane

I'm not trying to shake the ground below

I'm just trying to find a way to make it back home

"Prince Zuko, maybe we should help these people." Iroh said as they passed by a seaside town that was being flooded. "No. Wait. Maybe the Avatar is here. If he is, he'll help them." "Zuko, these people need help." Iroh said firmly. "I'm not here to stop floods. I'm here to get home."

I'm not trying to part the ocean waves

I'm not trying to overthrow the throne

I'm just trying to find a way to make it back home

I'm just trying to get home

'Dear Zuko,

I miss you. Can you just find the stupid Avatar and come home already?

-Mai'

'Dear Mai,

If it were that easy, I would already be home making fun of the palace guards with you.

-Zuko'

I've got this image engraved in my mind

Of a life that I had in a whole different time

It still breathes and lives at the end of the road

Zuko stared into the mirror at the angry red scar on his eye. He held a hand over it, and could almost see the Prince he once was. He wondered if it could be healed. He took a deep breath and turned away from the mirror. He had a new lead on someone claiming to be the Avatar, and if he could just find this one person, he would be able to have his old life back.

I've seen mountains and valleys through my missing days

But I never once parted with how you begged me to stay

I will run down that long hard and treacherous road to get home

He stood on a hill above a huge valley. It was strange. The Fire Nation was made up of mountains, islands, and volcanoes, and there were no valleys. The concept of the valley was still a bit foreign to him. He thought of how much Mai would've loved it here... and immediately turned back to his uncle. Thinking about Mai brought back memories of pleas, to get out of the Agni Kai, to convince his father to let him stay. "I don't think he's here." Zuko told his uncle. "But I will find him and get back my honor." He said, and walked back to the ostrich-horse.

[Chorus]

I've been gone for so long

But my heart it carries on

As it pounds like a drum

On my journey back home

His heart pounded in his chest as the ship approached the South Pole. He glanced down at the black scar on his left arm. Three years. Officially. Three years ago today his father took a fireball to his face. It had been three years since he'd seen his father. Three years since he'd seen Azula, or Ty Lee. Three years since he'd slept in his own bed. Three years since he'd sat at the turtle duck pond. He was ready to go back home.

I've been gone for so long

But my heart it carries on

I won't give up

"Prince Zuko, it's very unlikely that the Avatar is in this backwater tribe. Ha! BackWATER tribe!" Iroh laughed at his own unintentional pun. "I don't care, Uncle! We have to search every inch of this planet until we find him! I refuse to give up!" He yelled. And then he saw the lights.

[Chorus]

I'm just trying to get home

"Zuko, why did you save me?" Aang asked him. He had just taken off the Blue Spirit mask. And Aang was staring at him like he had grown a second head. "Don't you hate me?" The young Avatar asked the Prince. "I don't hate you, Aang. I need to capture you to regain my honor and be unbanished. I'm just trying to get home."

I'm just trying to get home


	11. The Order of the White Lotus

AN: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED SO FAR

* * *

The Order of the White Lotus

"Hello, Sokka." Sokka was surprised to see his old teacher in the South Pole, especially since Piandao liked hot places a lot more than the icy South Pole. "Master Piandao? What are you doing here?" He asked, hugging his old mentor. "He is not alone." A gravelly voice said from behind Piandao.

Iroh was wearing a White Lotus collar and blue cape over his Jasmine Dragon uniform. Bumi, Paku and Jeong Jeong were also there, all with their capes and collars worn proudly. "Um, hi guys. What's up?" He asked, taking a tiny step backwards from the extremely powerful benders.

"Sokka, we have a proposition for you." Paku said. "You are turning eighteen tomorrow, right?" Jeong Jeong asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes. How did you-" "Then you are officially eligible for White Lotus membership as of tomorrow!" Bumi shrieked, laughing maniacally.

"You... you want me to join the Order?" Sokka asked, eyes wide. "Yes. You are one of the most famous strategists in the world, you can fight, you're brilliant, and your priorities are straight. Why wouldn't we want you?" Piandao aasked, placing a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Well, I... this is a huge honor and all I can say is-"

* * *

"-Yes. I will become the next Grand Lotus." Sokka, now a councilman of the Republic as well as an extremely influential member of the Order of the White Lotus, replied to Iroh, who was on his deathbed. "Good. Now, bring Zuko back in. I would like to say my goodbyes." Iroh said contentedly. "Of course, Master Iroh." He said, walking out of the room.

"He wants to talk to you." He said to Zuko, who stood outside of the room, tears falling from his eyes. Zuko nodded. Sokka fixed his dark blue cape to his collar and walked away from the room, wiping away his own tears and going to announce his Grand Lotus-ship to the rest of the Order.

* * *

"Bumi, you're turning eighteen tomorrow. I want you to join the Order of the White Lotus." Sokka told his nephew, clapping a hand down on his shoulder. "Are you sure? Everyone says I'm a little irresponsible." Bumi said. "Nah, Kya's just being little-sistery. I should know. I have a little sister." He said, grinning.

"Well-

* * *

-Okay." Bumi said, attempting not to start sobbing. His uncle was lying in his bed, dying. "I will become the next Grand Lotus. I'll make you proud." Bumi said. "Good." He said. And then closed his eyes.

Bumi emerged from his uncle's room wiping tears from his face and wearing the White Lotus collar that had belonged to Iroh and then his uncle Sokka. He affixed his blue cape to his new collar. "I will make you proud, Uncle Sokka."


	12. Spider-Roach

After the overall depressingness of the last one-shot, I figured some Kataang fluff is in order.

* * *

Spider-Roach

"Spirits!" Aang heard a scream. "Katara!" He shouted. He got up from the couch where he had been meditating and ran to his girlfriend's aid.

"Aang!" She screamed. He gaped at the scene before him. His girlfriend, Katara, master waterbender, who had gone up against some of the greatest benders of all time, was crouched on the table in the kitchen as a spider-roach crawled around on the floor.

"Katara, it's just a-" "Spider-roach!" She screamed. Aang sighed and picked up the spider-roach using airbending. He held it up to his girlfriend. "See? Nice spider-roach." She screamed and scrambled away from it. "Spirits." He muttered, face-palming and depositing the spider-roach outside.

"See? It's gone now." He said, holding out a hand to Katara. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I have arachnophobia." She said, gratefully taking his hand and climbing off the table.

"It's fine, Katara. It's gone now." Aang said, hugging his girlfriend. She smiled and kissed him. "My hero." She whispered, and walked away.


	13. Tea and Biscuits

AN: So, awhile back, in The Letter I really wanted to set Jin up with someone and at first it was Longshot, and then I changed it to Teo. And at first it was just 'cause I thought it would be cute if Jin met someone who Zuko knew, but I started thinking, and I ship it, like, _a lot_. So yeah. This resulted. And also, I love Iroh acting as Jin's official matchmaker.

* * *

Tea and Biscuits

"Jin! There are some customers waiting!" Iroh called out. "Can't you get it? I have some tea on the boil!" Jin yelled back. "I think you should get this one Jin. I'll deal with the tea." Iroh said, walking into the kitchen pulling Jin out into the main room. "Alright." She said, laughing slightly.

Jin gasped when she saw the customers she was to serve. The customers in question were a boy around Jin's age and whom she assumed was his father, but that was rather normal. However, that wasn't what had elicited a gasp from her. The surprising part about the duo was that the boy was sitting in a wooden wheelchair-like device.

"Hi! Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon. I'm Jin and I will be your waitress." She said, smiling brightly. She led them to a table. She heard the boy whisper to his father, "She didn't mention my legs." Like it was some kind of miracle.

"So, here are your menus. I'd recommend the White Lotus tea, by the way." Jin said, handing each of the men a thick, lavishly decorated piece of green paper. "Thank you, Jin." The boy said, smiling at her. She felt herself blush and smiled back.

She went to serve some other customers, but her thoughts kept finding their way back to the boy in the wheelchair. She hadn't felt this blushy about a boy she had barely ever talked to since she had met Zuko.

"So, are you ready to order?" Jin asked, returning to the father and son's table. "I actually have to go, I'm meeting Sokka in Upper Ring. I'll see you at home Teo." The father said, and stood. "Sokka? Like the famous Water Tribe Sokka?" Jin couldn't help but ask. "Yes. Good day, miss." Teo's father said, and left.

"Well that was rude." Teo muttered. "So, are you going to order, or...?" Jin asked. "Oh! Right. Sorry. He's been acting so weird lately... Anyways, I'll have the White Lotus tea and the Dragon biscuits." Teo said, smiling at her.

When Jin went to get Teo's tea and biscuits, however, there was a second cup and plate. "Um, the second man left." She told Iroh. "I know. I think it's about time you go on break." Iroh said, smiling serenely at his young protégé. "Um, alright." Jin said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and taking the tray.

"Thank you." Teo said to Jin as she set the tray down on the table. "Why are there two cups?" He asked as she sat down across from him. "Iroh thought that I should take my break, and he implied that I should come sit with you." She said. "Okay." Teo said.

"So, I didn't catch your name." Jin said after a moment, even though she had. "I'm Teo." He said, holding out a hand for her to shake. She shook it. "Um, do you like the tea?" Jin asked. "Yeah." Teo said. "You make good recommendations." Jin blushed.

"Um, so, this may be a bit forward, but, would you maybe like to go out sometime?" Teo suddenly asked. "I'd love to." Jin replied. "How about tonight?" Teo asked. "Yes." Jin said, smiling brightly.

Soon they finished their tea and biscuits and Jin got up to go back to work. "Thank you. For everything. And especially for not asking about all of this." Teo said, gesturing to his legs. "You're welcome. See you tonight." "See you tonight."

Jin sighed dreamily as she returned to the kitchen. "So how did it go?" Iroh asked. "Amazing." Jin replied. "Wonderful. Now, get back to work." Iroh said.

* * *

AN: I was debating making Iroh and Teo's father (who, if you haven't noticed, we NEVER got the name of!) talk at the end like they had been hatching some plan to pair them up, but I decided not to.


End file.
